New York Guidelines Prioritize ‘Non-White’ Patients For COVID Treatments

Medical disinformation lives on in Blue states, where medicine is evaluated through a filter of race. And in the age of COVID, states like New York continue to sow distrust by trying to fix 'systemic racism' in stringing out the pandemic.

Early this week, acting New York State governor Kathy Hochul released updated COVID guidelines regarding two newly approved COVID therapeutics. 

As part of their distribution plan, New York officials note patients of a non-White background as a priority over White patients due to "longstanding systemic health and social inequities."

Relayed by the DC Examiner's Karol Markowicz:

"Non-white race or Hispanic/Latino ethnicity should be considered a risk factor, as longstanding systemic health and social inequities, have contributed to an increased risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19."

The two therapeutics — one manufactured by Pfizer and the other by Merck — are oral treatments used to cut the risk of serious illness from COVID by as high as 88 percent. 

Hochul's statement added, "The FDA authorized the first oral antiviral therapies, Paxlovid from Pfizer and molnupiravir from Merck, to treat patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 who are at high risk for progression to severe disease, regardless of vaccination status.

"Paxlovid and molnupiravir reduce the risk of hospitalization and death by 88 percent and 30% respectively, in patients at high-risk for severe COVID-19 when started early after symptom onset."

Pfizer's therapeutic is approved for Americans age 12 and older, while Merck's treatment is available for adults age 18 and up — considered a vital treatment for those unable to take the authorized COVID-19 vaccines.

With the increased availability of treatments used to mitigate COVID-19's threat, Los Angeles and New York residents heading into 2022 continue to question an end date for the pandemic. Now that vaccines are a standard part of society, Blue states fail to reinforce confidence in their approach after their cities reverted to 2020-like restrictions.

An unwanted caste system splitting up the vaccinated and unvaccinated remains an issue in these states. And the rolling out of treatments fights an uphill battle as more citizens trust the science but not those in charge.

Follow along on Twitter: @AlejandroAveela